1. Field of the Invention
This invention is concerned with skis in general and particularly it relates to skis that are in two or more segments able to be disassembled and assembled easily.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One of the problems facing the ski industry is that of theft. Skis are normally over four feet in length and are transported on special racks fastened to cars. While some of these racks contain locks most expose the skis to view. These racks are easily broken into and the skis stolen.
To overcome this objection numerous designs of two piece skis have been invented with the object of providing a ski that can be disassembled into segments and locked in the trunk of automobiles and be safe and out of sight.
Firstly a water ski best illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 3,026,546 in which two flat surfaces are mated, one overlapping the other at the attachment joint. This method may be suitable for water skiing but is unsatisfactory for snow skiing in which a smooth flat surface is required for the skis. A variety of means of attachment have been patented by various inventors for snow skis ranging from the simple latch mechanism of U.S. Pat. No. 3,801,117, through various coupling designs of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,825,360; 3,884,315; 4,155,568; 4,248,449 to a number of angled functions best illustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,596,918 and 3,819,198.
These designs have the disadvantage of requiring a precise fit or put a considerable strain on a single screw which may loosen or snap. The result is a useless ski. The design problems required to produce a number of skis is difficult and some of them require a close precision for precise assembly. This increases expense and causes difficulty in assembly. In addition some ski shoe bindings may be inhibited by the projections present on prior designs.